Thread: Dashboard Upgrades

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Originally posted by Diamond
I was looking at some different gauges and how i could incorperate some of them, so many combos so many choices . I hate fiberglass, i just don't feel its right unless it's steel, it just seems to me that anybody can use fiberglass but it's the artists that work with metal. I look at automobiles as art. I'll only do fiberglass if i really have to, carbon fiber???


Heres a 59 El Camino dash. I was also looking at a 60-61 corvette dash too. I was thinking it might be nice to keep it in the general age of the truck, that way it stays with the theme, but you never know what might pop up. Im going to do the same with a 69 Camero, that dash just dosent do the car justice either

Yep, most any '59 model year car retains the same dash, and they'll look good in any custom hotrod or truck that is from the 30's to the 50's. Glass is ok but, I like steel better also. I like to call Carbon Fiber " Expensive uglyness ".

How about this 54 vette dash

Or this 59 vette dash?

How about this 59 bonneville

Kenny are you saying that the 59 dash is to wide and i would have to cut the middle thus removing the radio and the 57 would be a closer fit? How would the vette dash compare?

That was me who said the 59 is too wide. Because of the design you would have to shorten it in the middle. The 57 isn't as wide as the 59 dash and can be shortened on the right side leaving the radio and glove box where they are.
The 54 vette dash is probably fiberglas I don't know about the 59 but a complete Corvette dash would cost over $1000 if you could find one.
You have to measure the width of your truck dash and the distance between the door and steering column. You may have to shorten the drivers side too to get the gauges centered over the steering column. Then go check out what's available with a tape measure.

I have this 67 Chrysler dash that I put on ebay for a friend. He wanted $50. But nobody bid on it. It's 60 inches wide. You could cut out as much as 4 1/2 inches where the clock goes between the radio and glovebox. It has the wiring harness, headlight switch, wiper switch and heater controls. The ignition switch is still attached to the wiring harness (no key). The speedo goes up to 120 mph. The three windows below the speedo are alternator, gear selector and fuel gauge. The oil and temp are idiot lights. I don't know if any of this or the radio are any good. There are also two vent handles and a flasher switch. The biggest problem though is that it weighs around 80 pounds. Shipping charges would be high. If anybody wants it make an offer. I can't get the owner to take it home and it's too nice to throw out.

Here's the side view. The center of the steering hole is 15 inches from the left side.

This is a bit off subject or topic here but you guy's were mentioning it a bit ago so I am going to ask this question... Can someone please either post a thread up or put it in here and tell me the exact steps in how to do the fiberglass and what to use, etc, etc? I read something on it before but didn't get exactly what they meant. Also when you do the fiberglass and make the wooden thing then do you keep the wooden thing on or pull it away from the fiberglass? Any and all info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by FMXhellraiser
This is a bit off subject or topic here but you guy's were mentioning it a bit ago so I am going to ask this question... Can someone please either post a thread up or put it in here and tell me the exact steps in how to do the fiberglass and what to use, etc, etc? I read something on it before but didn't get exactly what they meant. Also when you do the fiberglass and make the wooden thing then do you keep the wooden thing on or pull it away from the fiberglass? Any and all info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

You make the plug out of wood, metal, anything that will hold the shape of the final part. Make the plug look exactly how you want the final part to look, every detail. Spray it with a release agent. When you buy the fiberglass , ask for release agent and they will show you what it is. You spray it on the plug so the fiberglass won't stick to the plug. I was lucky enough to live relatively close to a plant that built fiberglass shower stalls, etc. They sold me the materials in bulk so it was way cheaper. I think the guy gave me a deal cuz' he new what I was in for and felt sorry for me. HE HE HE You mix fiberglass resin and a hardener. Soak fiberglass matting in the resin and lay it on the plug. You have to be fast cuz' it sets up about as fast as bondo, same chemical process. I mixed up small batches so it wouldn't get away from me. Once you get the entire plug covered and it has cured, pull the fiberglass off the plug and that is your mould. Then you clean up the mould and fix any imperfections with bondo, fix it just like you would bodywork. Once your satisfied with the moulds quality. You again spray it with release agent. Then you spray it with gel coat. Then you lay up fiberglass the same way you did on the plug. When it's just setting up trim the overhanging fiberglass even with the edge of the mould. When cured, pull the final part out of the mould and finish it like you would any other part.
Now that's the down N' Dirty method for the economy glasser.
That's the simplified explanation. It is very time consuming if you do it this way with no special tools. At the Street Rod Nationals I had the ONLY fiberglass dash and tilt front end for a 40 chevy tho.

Ok thanks a lot for the help. This is a bit late but oh well. So what are ALL the materials I would need? I think I am going to try and make myself a dashboard for the hell of it for my golf cart just for some practice. I still don't get exactly how to lay it on the plug of wood and all because I helped in the auto tech class fix the broken umm (what's the thing called under the radiator? I think the core support or something) and I helped fix it with fiberglass and all we did was get a heat gun and then mix the two thing's up and put the paste on where we needed it and then layed strips of the glass (paper like stuff, I guess fiberglass) and it was done. Is that what you do here is get the paste, put it on and then lay the strips of fiberglass over that? Sorry for all the questions but I am just trying to learn and don't wan't to waste money here by not doing it right. Thanks a lot!

Originally posted by FMXhellraiser
Ok thanks a lot for the help. This is a bit late but oh well. So what are ALL the materials I would need?

This will give you some information.

http://www.hotrodder.com/32Blowpar/page11.html